Article • Culture & leadership

The 7 organisational habits that drive high performance

Title card: 7 Business Habits That Drive High Performance on a pale background.

Our ground-breaking research has identified the 7 organisational habits that are essential for achieving high performance. The study draws on data from over 100,000 employee responses from around 200 organisations.

It examines the characteristics that most differentiate high performance organisations from low performance organisations

The 7 habits are:

  1. Live an inspiring vision – inspired employees go the extra mile
  2. Communicate clear strategies and goals – a clear strategy points employees in the right direction
  3. Develop your people – high-performing people drive organisational results
  4. Go out of your way to recognise people – saying “thanks” makes a big difference
  5. Genuinely care for your people – the ‘psychological contract’ is crucial
  6. Listen and adapt to your customers’ needs – creating long-term customer loyalty
  7. Continually improve your systems – inadequate systems undermine performance

Peter Wilson AM, Chairman of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) agrees with our findings. “Lessons such as Insync’s research are all too often forgotten as hard numbers and egos can regrettably take centre stage. Everyone wants to be led with a sense of purpose and hope and this result confirms that. Five of the other habits go to the heart of how an organisation manages its people and customers, and it’s good to have sound systems that are accessible, simple and clear. The research is highly consistent with research from our Institute”, Mr Wilson said.

Key insights from the “The 7 organisational habits that drive high performance” report include:

  • While most Australian companies would say they put their employees first, 67% of employees from low performance organisations believe they work for organisations that don’t really care about them
  • Low performance organisations tend to overlook the importance of their people and are more likely to treat employees as a number or unit of labour
  • Only 24% of employees of low performance organisations are inspired by their organisation’s vision
  • More than 50% of employees from low performance organisations don’t believe their company is committed to achieving long-term customer loyalty
  • Only 15% of employees from low performance organisations believe there are effective plans for developing and retaining employees
  • 73% of employees from low performance organisations said their leaders don’t really acknowledge or thank staff

This study is based on data from our Alignment and Engagement Survey.

Build a high performance organisation

Learn more about building high performance across your entire organisation with our employee Alignment and Engagement Survey and action-oriented consulting services.

Build a high performance organisation
Group of people leaning over a table, drawing and annotating large sheets of paper with pencils and markers in a collaborative planning session.